The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-06-23
targest Vineyard on Earth:

There has been 8 great deal Witch
about Senator ctsnford's immense ranch
at Vina,: but the only ito get. an
adequate idea ofit is to pay the place d
visit. This an Enfetsr:$s r6poftef dia
few dsys ago. Stanford's ranch begins
at the Tahama county line, and the first
view one gets of his land is not prepos.
sessing. 1t is nothing. but "a barren,
treeless plain, where tbs hedfbck crops
out ir sbots snd everywhere lies but
few feet beneath the surface. Nothing
will grow here except short, dry weed,
but the sheep like this weed, and the
plain is therefore one vast sheep range,
for Senator Stanford is a man of varied
resources, and manages to fnd a use for
all the land he owns.
AS you approach Vina the aspect of
the country suddenly changes, and you
jump from sunburned plains into the
midst of green alfalfa fields and vine.
yards. The former are made productive
by frequent flooding from irrigating
bitches. This flooding is good for the
soil, but bad for health, and if it makes
alfalfa, it also makes malaria. The
water ia brought in bitches from Deer
Greek and turned into the fields until it
stands in a vast lake. As soon as one
crop of alfalfa is cut, another is raised
in this way, all the year round. 1t is
used very extensively for stock, in place
of hay.
But the vineyard is the wonderful fea.
ture of the Stanford ranch. Il extends
for several miles up and down on each
side of the road as you approach Vina,
and back from the road as far as the eye
can reach. In some places the vines are
large, in others they have just been set
out, and in the latter case they are sup
ported by an army or stakes. This vine
yard contains $500 acres, and is the
largest in the world, but still the senator
is not satisfied, and proposes to have
5000 acres. More vines are being set
out every year. The prettiesi sight of
all are the old Greek vines which form
the nucleus of Senator Stauford's vine;
yard. These vines are all old aud stand
fully FIVE feet high. The trunks are
larger than mah's arm. The branches
are trimmed off at the bottom and
allowed to grow out at the top, Until the
vineyard looks like an orchard of young
peach trees, and they are all pruned off
so evenly that they make one level floor
of green as the eye glances across them.
The vines already in bearing require
the attention of several hundred men, to
take care of the grapes they produce; {;
and it will take a small army of men to
attend the crop each year when all the
vines get to bearing. The winery already
in use on the ranch is a large building,
but now Senator Stanford is having q
brick structure erected which covers two
acres. The walls are already up, and 140
pillars are being erected, to support the
roof. The building is to hold the wine
vats aud casks, and is sort of wine
cellar above ground. It is of mammot
proportions, but 80 is the vineyard, and
so will the crop of grapes be.
One could talk about the vineyard and
winery all day, but there are other things
to be mentioned. Next to his vines, in
Senator Stanford's esteem, come his fine
horses. OF these there are large bands
to be seen, all beauties and of the best
blood. The senator makes specially of
raising fast horses, which he sells for
fancy figures. Every animal is spirited,
beautifully proportioned and looks sleek
and smooth. The two stations to which
he breeds all his mares are Clay and
Whips. The former the senator values
at $4,000. Clay is rather small,
brown horse, kind and gentle in disposi-
ton. Whips is fine large bay, full Of
life and beautifully built. In fact, the
senator considers Whips the ideal of
horseaesh and beyond price. The ami.
NAL was expected to make very fast time,
but was lamed in his early training at
Palo Alto, and hence is used only for
breeding purposes. Several fine horses
have lamed lately On the Palo Alto
track, which is considered too hard, and
the senator intends to build training
track on his Vina ranch. Negotiations
are now in progress for the purchase of
the Copeland estate, which adjoins Stan ::
ford on the west, next to the river, and
when these negotiations are completed
the track will probably be built on this
land. Then all of the fine stock will be
brought to Vina, which will be made
headquarters for the training depart
ment.
Other features of this wonderful ranch
deserve extended mention. The nine
large barns for the horses, which are
made as comfortable as most dwellings ;
the barns where the HolsteiDs have their
quarters, kept as neat as parlor; those
fine old Holstein cattle themselves of
monstrous size aud beautifully marked
in black and white; one cow in particu.
lar, which is being fattened for beef, To
weigh $500 pounds, and which now
weighs nearly 1000; Senator Ssapford's
handsome two.s story residence, with its
extensive lawns, flower gardens and
statuary--all of these things attract the
attention and excite the interest of the
stranger. But then everything about
this great ranch is of interest, and after
the visitor has spent the day in examining
the different features he still feels how
little he has seen. The ranch is one of
the wonders of this wonderful State
From the Chico, Cdl, Enterprise.